Blackout
by PoeticDream
Summary: Something is happening to Troy. He's tired all the time, and can't seem to keep anything straight. His friends seem concerned, but who will still be there for him when things get rough? SEE INSIDE FOR FULL WARNING.
1. Late

**BLACKOUT **

_Consider this your warning: _This story will include boyxboy slash, a (possible) 3 way slash, noncon sex acts, underage drinking, drug use, and other things that my twisted little brain can think of. If any of this makes you uncomfortable, please click your back button now. If it doesn't, then please enjoy the story!

**---xxx---**

RIIIIIIIING RIIIIIIIING 

Troy slowly opened his eyes, squinting due to the sunlight streaming through his bedroom window

_RIIIIIIIING RIIIIIIIING_

It took him a minute to figure out what had woken him from his deep sleep. When he did, the basketball star reached out for his phone, and without seeing who it was he flipped it open to mutter a weak 'hey'.

"Hey man, you ready? I'm pulling around the corner."

'CHAD!' it hit Troy suddenly. He looked over to the clock on his nightstand: 1:14 PM. Suddenly it all came rushing back to him.

He was due to be at the East High gym in sixteen minutes for a charity basketball game against the West High Knights!

Suddenly very awake, Troy sat up in bed told Chad he'd be out in five, slammed his phone shut and ran for his basketball jersey.

**---xxx---**

"Dude, where were you last night? You look like crap!" Chad said as Troy climbed into his friend's truck. "Girlfriend keep you up late last night?" he added with a wink.

"Haha, very funny." Replied Troy, leaning back against the headrest while his eyes slowly closed. "Besides, you know where I was – you were with me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, man. I was at the movies with Taylor last night." Replied Chad, glancing worriedly over at Troy.

"Hmm? Oh," Troy said, "Sorry, must have dreamt it then."

"Aww, you dream about me? That's so sweet!" Chad said in a mock-girlish voice.

Without opening his eyes Troy smacked Chad on the face, causing him to nearly hit the curb as he pulled into the East High parking lot.

**END CHAPTER ONE**

_Well, there you have it folks: The first chapter of Blackout. Hope it was to your satisfaction. I'm aiming to put up at least 2 chapters a week of this, at least for now. So stay tuned!  
__PoeticDream_


	2. Dizzy

**BLACKOUT **

**---x---**

Without even a spare minute to say hi to his girlfriend-of-a-year Gabriella, Troy rushed through the gym doors and bolted for the locker room. With only two minutes till game time Troy made it back to the indoor court and quickly jumped in the huddle with his team.

With only a quick glance at his son that promised a talk on the importance of being on time, Coach Bolton attempted to motivate his team.

"Alright guys – I know that this is only a charity game but that doesn't mean we can't give it our all, right? The Knights are NOT the charity cases. We're the champs here and everyone knows it. Give it your all out there or get out! Right?"

"What team?!" Chad shouted.

"WILDCATS!" his teammates shouted back.

"What team?!".

"WILDCATS!"

"What team?!"

"WILDCATS!"

"WILDCATS!!" Chad repeated back to his team.

"Get'cha head in the game!" they all shouted together.

After their traditional chant, as Troy was running onto the court he scanned the crowds for Gabriella until he finally found her sitting and talking avidly with Ryan Evans. Trying not to let his jealousy show, Troy had enough time to grab her attention and attempt to wave before the referee called him over to start the game.

Even though it was all for charity, Troy could still feel the beginnings of adrenaline pumping through his blood. He had a good feeling about this one…

**---x---**

As soon as he finished slapping hands with the Knights, Troy ran to where he knew Gabriella would be sitting. The basketball star ran up and embraced her from behind. "Wanna celebrate alone tonight?" he whispered loudly in her ear because of all the crowd noise.

Gabriella pulled away from him and turned around. She subtly nodded. 'My house. 7.' She mouthed to him and then gave him a light push so he could go back to celebrating the Wildcats win with his teammates.

**---x---**

An hour later Troy was still in the locker room with his teammates, celebrating not only the win, but that they had raised over $500 for local charities.

"Good job, dude!" One of the Wildcats yelled as they passed Troy's locker.

"Thanks, man – hey, you too!" Troy yelled back, not even sure of whom he was talking to.

Just as he was getting dressed, Troy heard the team leaving the locker room. He was about to join them when all of a sudden he felt dizzy. He sat down on the bench behind him and placed his head in the palms of his hands. Someone tapped him on the back and asked if he was all right. Troy didn't have time to answer before everything went black.

**---x---**

The next time Troy opened his eyes, he felt like the earth was moving beneath him. He heard someone next to him say something about getting him home soon and immediately shut his eyes again.

**END CHAPTER TWO**

_All right, another chapter down! Finally some real suspense, eh? I had more of this chapter written, but I think it's better that I just stop here and be evil xD Nah, I'm just kidding. I'll probably put the next chapter up sometime tomorrow._

_Thanks to everyone that has so far reviewed and added Blackout to their communities or favorites or alerts or even read the story D I really appreciate it!_

_PoeticDream_


	3. Breakfasts & Breakups

_RIIIIIIIING RIIIIIIIING_

'_Not again_' thought Troy.

Reaching around blindly to find the source of his constant annoyance, Troy made a mental note to turn his phone off before he went to bed tonight. Finally reaching it, he flipped it open and was about mutter a greeting when a shrill female voice came from the other end.

"Good Morning, _Troy._" His name was said with such malice that Troy knew exactly who it was, and what was wrong.

"Gabriella!" his eyes shot open. "I'm so, so sorry baby!" he pleaded.

"Oh, so you're not dead?" she countered. "Because at this point that's pretty much the only way you're going to weasel your way out of missing another date, Bolton!"

"I must have gotten sick or something" Troy tried explaining "I remember being in the locker room…and then…nothing." He ended, more to himself than to his irate girlfriend.

"Whatever," she replied "this is already the second time you've blown me off this week. If you're still too scared about taking our relationship to the next level, then fine. I'll just back off. Just let me know when you're ready to step up and be the man that you've got everyone fooled into thinking you are."

Troy didn't get a chance to defend himself before the line went dead.

**---x---**

Three hours later Troy finally rolled out of bed. He still wasn't able to remember what had happened after the game, but he figured he would just ask his Dad. He was the one who had brought him home after he got sick, Troy reasoned. That in mind, he quickly got dressed and went downstairs, heading straight for the kitchen.

"Mornin' sleeping beauty!" His Mom jabbed him in the stomach as soon as entered the kitchen. "I left you some breakfast on the table – of course by now it's almost lunch! You must have been exhausted after that game last night! Although you must not have been _too _tired if you went out with your friends afterwards, huh? Oh well, you deserve a little fun I guess. Your Dad said you played great last night – sorry I couldn't…"

"Good morning to you too, Mom." Troy stopped his Mom's rambling, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He felt like his legs were going to give out if he stood there any longer. I'm gonna go eat now, okay?" he said, as if he were talking to a four-year-old. Mrs. Bolton just smiled and pinched his cheek.

Ignoring the pancakes his Mom had left out, Troy grabbed a bowl, spoon, and a box of cereal slowly walking over to the island to sit down.

As he started eating, the doorbell rang. He didn't bother getting up however, because almost immediately he heard the door open and his Dad talking to the visitor, so he went back to his cereal, suddenly feeling starved. It was only when his Dad came in and set a box on the chair next to him that Troy wondered who had been knocking.

"That was Gabriella," Mr. Bolton said, as if reading Troy's mind. "She said she didn't want to bother you because she knows how busy you are – or something like that. Anyway, she asked me to give you that." He said, gesturing at the box before turning to walk away.

"Thanks, Dad." Troy said to his father's retreating form. The mention of Gabriella's name had reminded Troy of their 'conversation', which his was conveniently trying to forget. He stared at the box, just knowing there couldn't be anything good in it. Vowing not to open it, Troy went back to eating his breakfast. But it was only two minutes before curiosity got the better of him and he picked up the box to carry it to his room – away from any prying parental eyes.

**END CHAPTER 3**

_Not much to say now; just thanks for still reading and sorry I didn't get this postsed yesterday. To make up for it I'm posting another chapter of this up tonight D  
PoeticDream_


	4. The Box

_ON THE LAST CHAPTER OF **BLACKOUT** _

_He stared at the box, just knowing there couldn't be anything good in it. Vowing not to open it, Troy went back to eating his breakfast. But it was only two minutes before curiosity got the better of him and he picked up the box to carry it to his room – away from any prying parental eyes._

**---x---**

Locked away in his room, Troy sat the box on his bed to open it…

It was everything he had ever given her. Troy knew he should have been upset, but the emotion just wasn't there – not even when he reached the bottom of the box and pulled out the giant spotted owl (Gabriella's favorite animal) Troy had her for their six-month anniversary.

Having satisfied his curiosity Troy threw the box from his bed and into the corner and then lay down on the bed himself, among all of the things that would forever remind him of Gabriella.

**---x---**

This time it was knocking, and not his phone that woke Troy up. He yelled for whomever it was to 'come in' but when he didn't hear footsteps he forced himself out of bed to open the door himself.

He reached the door and unlocked it only to be faced with a very disappointed looking Dad.

"We need to talk." Was all he said before he pushed past Troy and say down on his son's bed.

Troy heaved a sigh and slowly closed the door, trying to delay the inevitable.

**END CHAPTER FOUR**

_Hey, I said I had a chapter – I didn't say it was going to be long, did I? Heheh…okay! Okay! Don't kill me. I've got more ready to go, but a little incentive would be nice. So, dear reader, it's up to you. After this the story starts getting interesting. Want to know what happens? Review! I don't even care if you just say 'cookie' – I just want to know that I'm not posting for nothing.  
PoeticDream_


	5. The Talk

"What's up with you lately? You nearly being late for that game yesterday is inexcusable!" Mr. Bolton said as soon as Troy sat down. "You're the Wildcat captain! If you aren't there, people notice. What if there had been a scout there last night? How would it have looked if you were late?"

"I'm sorry Dad," Troy started "I was just so tired the other night – I guess I just didn't hear my alarm-"

"That's another thing!" Troy's dad cut in. "Why _are_ you so tired all the time?"

"What do you mean?" asked Troy, slouching over even as he said it.

"I mean – you aren't doing anything to jeopardize your scholarship chances, are you?" The suggestive tone in his father's voice made Troy sit up straight once again. "You're not seriously accusing me of being on drugs, are you?"

"Well, are you?" his Dad snapped, standing up.

"I'm a few minutes late for one game – ONE game, in 2 ½ years of playing, and suddenly I'm on drugs? Sorry Dad, I'm only human you know, I can't be perfect all the freaking time!""

"It's not just about the game Troy! Every time your mother or I see you you're either sleeping, eating, or playing basketball! I haven't seen you with Gabriella in weeks, your teachers are calling because your grades are slipping, and…" his voice quieted "…you're just not acting like you. All this sleep can't be good for you anyway."

"Dad you don't really thing I'm on drugs, right?" Troy tried to reason "It's just all stress from the past few weeks with school and scholarships and all that…"

"All right, I'll let you slide for now, but try a little harder, eh?" Said Mr. Bolton slapping Troy on the back. "You're not the only one going through this stuff – okay?"

"Yeah Dad, I know." Troy smirked. "Hey – Dad?" Troy stopped his father just as he was opening the door.

"Yeah, Sport?"

"Thanks for covering for me last night with Mom. The last thing I need is her worrying about me being a little sick."

"What do you mean Troy?" asked his Dad, confused. "Chad called here last night and said you two were hanging out after the game. Must have been some after party if you don't remember it." he said, once more getting suspicious of his son's nightly activities. "And what do you mean 'being sick'?"

"Chad? Oh! Right, I forgot." Said Troy, quickly covering. "Maybe you're right about this 'too much sleeping' thing. It's really messing with my mind."

"I'm glad we agree." Said Mr. Bolton, still eyeing his son up even as he was being gently forced out of the room.

As soon as he knew his Dad had gone downstairs Troy reached for his phone to call Chad so he could get some answers.

"C'mon Chad, pick up dude." Troy muttered to himself.

"You've got Chad." Came the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey man, it's me. We have to talk – now."

"All right Troy. Don't need to be going all girly on me again. Tell your buddy what's on your mind." Troy could hear the humor in his best friend's voice.

"No, seriously man. I've got a real problem."

Chad sobered up immediately, or at least he tried. "What? Fight with Gabriella?" he guessed.

"If you can call what we had a fight, then yes. She yelled a lot and then broke up with me."

"Uh, that's…hey maybe you should be talking to Taylor… this kinda sounds like a girl problem, and well…" said Chad, clearly uncomfortable.

"NO!" Troy jolted. "I mean, no. This isn't really about Gabbi. Just, tell me what happened after the game last night."

"What d'ya mean?"

"My Dad said you called here last night to tell my mom we were hanging out after the game."

"Oh, that. I did."

"Okay, only problem is that I don't remember anything after heading into the locker room."

Troy heard Chad sigh. "Yeah, I kinda figured that. Listen man, all I know is that when I was leaving the locker room I noticed you weren't there. When I went looking I found you face down on the floor."

_  
oy!" I tried screaming your name, shaking you, everything. I panicked. After I knew everyone else would be gone I carried you through the school hallways to my car. I called your Mom on the way to my house."  
_

  
"I didn't want to get you into trouble if, you know, you were taking 'something'." Chad explained. Troy grunted as a sign for Chad to continue.

_took you to my house figuring you'd be safe there since my parents are out of town. I set you on the couch, but you were still acting like a vegetable. I kept trying to wake you up until around one in the morning. I drove you back to your house and carried you up to your room. I figured that if your parents still couldn't wake you they would get a doctor involved."_

"I remember you taking me home I guess, but that's it…" mused Troy.

"Man, as your best friend, I've gotta ask. You –aren't- doing anything I should know about, right?" asked Chad, sounding genuinely concerned.

"No Chad, I'm not doing drugs." Said Troy, getting irritated that even his best friend would think that.

"Sorry, had to ask. It's my duty. But it's a relief to hear you say it."

"Yeah, not really." Said Troy.

"Why not?"

"Because not I still have no idea why or how I blacked out."

"Oh, yeah. Maybe you should talk you your folks."

"Yeah, maybe, but you know how much my Mom freaks out even when I just get sick."

"True, but this could be serious. People don't just black out for no reason dude."

"I guess I'll talk to them at some point then. But could you do me a favor while I take care of that?"

"Anything man, you know that."

"Can you call Gabriella and tell her what happened last night? I told her I didn't remember but she didn't really believe me."

"Don't worry, I've got your back."

"Thanks, man. I owe you one."

"Oh for this you owe me one hundred!" Chad laughed as the line went dead.

Troy sighed. Hr had solved one mystery only to have another open up in his lap. The more he thought about telling his parents what had happened, the more Troy thought it was a bad idea. Maybe he'd hold off for just a little while. It probably was just stress, and he didn't need the college recruiters to find any doctor reports that might claim he couldn't handle too much stress without a blackout. He'd never get on a college team anywhere!

Deciding that he needed to clear his head Troy grabbed his iPod, told his Dad he'd be back before dinner and headed for the back door.

**---x---**

_  
Sorry it's been so long since my last update! School midterms along with me being extremely sick sidelined me for a while. I've had this chapter written for a while, and am finally well enough to start posting again! So keep reviewing (love to all of you that have thus far!) and you'll see another chapter here very quickly!  
PoeticDream_


	6. Running Just To Get Away

"_Maybe I'm the one, maybe I'm the one who is a schizophrenic psycho…" _Troy sang along to the music blasting into his eardrums, as his feet pounded in time to the pavement.

He was running to clear his head, but was quickly realizing that it wasn't working. Troy couldn't keep his mind off of Gabriella. He'd even subconsciously turned down onto her road. So he was glad for the distraction when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Slowing down so not so sound as out of breath as he felt, Troy answered his phone.

"Hey – Troy?" It was Gabriella. Fuck.

**END CHAPTER SIX**

_Well that was a helluva chapter, huh? LOL, sorry! I know it's been awhile since I've updated – like a LONG while. No excuses other than life kinda sucked. Cross your fingers, that's done now. Anyways, song was __Psycho by Puddle of Mudd__. Next (REAL) chapter up incredibly soon._


	7. Confrontations & Collisions

LAST TIME  
"_Hey – Troy?" It was Gabriella. Fuck._

**XXX**

It didn't even seem like she wanted to talk to him.

"Yeah, what's up?" Troy said, trying his best to sound as indifferent as she had. He only succeeded in sounding like he was going through puberty again.

"Oh, hi – is Ry – Chad with you?"

He knew what she was going to say. Troy suddenly felt jealousy creeping up on him again. "No, _Chad's _not here. I'm not even home." Troy said, putting extra emphasis on his friend's name.

"Oh. It's just he left me a message earlier and now I can't even get hold of him."

"Oh. Can't help. But if I talk to him, I'll…"

"Thanks."

"Yeah."

"Well, bye."

"Bye."

Troy clicked his phone off.

"Idiot!" he lashed out at himself. He saw someone peer out at him from behind a curtain and decided it would be a good idea to start moving again. Making a quick decision, Troy started running in the direction of the Evans' estate. He decided it was about time he figured out why his girlfriend was so buddy/buddy with Ryan.

**XXX**

It was only after he had rung the doorbell that Troy realized it probably hadn't been the best idea to visit the Evans' directly after a run. 'Screw it.' he thought. It was too late now. He would just try not to drip sweat all through the foyer.

"Troy! What a nice surprise!"

Troy inwardly groaned. Of all the people that could have answered the door, it had to be Sharpay? Troy decided God must have a sick sense of humor. Didn't they have butlers or something for this?

"So what can I do for you Troy?" said Sharpay, shamelessly eyeing the Wildcat's body.

"Well, actually I'm looking for you brother – he around?" asked Troy, putting on his best 'hottie' grin.

But the drama queen's demeanor changed instatly.

"Oh, him." She said with a sneer. "I think he's here. One minute." She then slammed the door in his face, although Troy couldn't understand why, because when she yelled "RYAN!" he heard her as clearly as he would have if the door had been left open.

Nevertheless, two minutes later, there he was. Ryan Evans in all his color coordinated glory, glaring at Troy like he didn't deserve to be breathing the same air.

"Sharpay said you wanted to see me?"

"Uh, yeah." Troy mentally kicked himself. He sounded nervous. It was just Evan's for God's sake. "Look, I don't know what's going on between you and Gabriella…"

"Is that all?" Ryan interrupted him.

"What do you mean, "Is that _all_?" I'm so sick of…"

"Troy, I'm gay – not stupid."

"Wha?"

"You're jealous that I can hang out with Gabriella and give her emotional support that she's _obviously_ not getting from you."

Troy was quickly getting pissed off.

"You have no right to say that, asshole. She gets plenty of support from me!"

"Troy, you telling her how gorgeous she is while you're fucking her hardly counts as support."

"What?!" Troy stammered. "I…she…we've never…" Troy knew he was blushing, and he hated it. Ryan had the upper hand now, and he knew it.

"Oh, really? So all those times she came to me, telling me about how her boyfriend takes her "to the most romantic spots" and really "takes care of her" when they're making love – she wasn't talking about you? Interesting. Although I guess that would explain the nasty rumors I've been hearing around school."

Troy was dumbstruck, but it only took him a moment to recover.

"Okay, Evans. Obviously you're trying to tell me something so just stop beating around the bust and tell me!"

Ryan let out a laugh like what Troy said was the funniest joke he'd ever heard.

"Are you really that thick-headed? Fine. Your girlfriend is a whore."

Troy knew he should be pounding Ryan into the pristine white foyer by now, but all he could think was "She's not my girlfriend anymore."

Ryan just smirked and slammed the door in Troy's face.

**XXX**

Troy stared at the door, willing it to open. He prayed that Ashton Kutcher would jump out at him, laughing and telling him he'd just been Punk'd. That everything that Ryan had said was a lie – how could he be gullible enough to believe any of it?

But after five minutes with no sign of life Troy was forced to face the face that he was not being Punk'd. Deciding that he just wanted to go home and sleep off this entire day, Troy switched on his iPod as he ran down the Evans' driveway. He turned the volume up and headed for home.

Halfway home, and Troy's thoughts were still racing. He ran faster, trying to catch up with them. When that didn't work, Troy reached into his pocket and turned his music up even louder to block out his thoughts.

_I don't want to be here fading, it's more than I can take._

_I'm never gonna be the same._

_I threw it all away._

_I don't want to be here fading._

_Just let go._

Troy became so focused on the words of the song and his feet against the pavement that he finally forgot everything around him, and ran right into the path of an oncoming car.

**END CHAPTER SEVEN**

_Yay! I love this chapter. Which is funny, because my original draft of this chapter is almost completely different. But that's okay because if I hadn't changed it, I wouldn't have known where to go from here – but no worries – I do now! Song used this time is Let Go by Red. So, 'til next time…_

_Love!_

_Review!_

_PoeticDream_


	8. Unresponsive

"Troy, are you awake? Troy? Can you hear me?"

"Vitals are stable. Victim was unresponsive at crash site."

"Troy? Do you know where you are?"

"Arrrgh. No…"

"Troy, you're in the hospital. You were hit by a car."

"Mom…"

"We called your parents. They're on their way."

**XXX**

Two hours later and Jack & Elaine Bolton were still sitting by their sons bedside, watching for any sort of movement when there was a knock on the door.

"Mister and Misses Bolton?" They both stood up, only taking their eyes off Troy once the man was fully inside the room...

**END CHAPTER EIGHT**

_And that, ladies and gents, is what we call yet ANOTHER filler chapter. I'm sorry – they can't be helped. I'm sure you all get so excited when you see an update, only to find less than a paragraph. Part of keeping up the suspense, I'm afraid! But not to worry; There won't be many more after this. Why? Because very soon we'll start to uncover Troy's real problem! But you have to review! D So, 'til next time…_

_Love!_

_PoeticDream_


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